You're Important
by JaminJazzi
Summary: "Swimming is important. Your friends are important. I am not." - (Sequel to IBIY) University is a time for change and some people handle that change better than others. University is also where people learn to manage their priorities, but sometimes they get it wrong. Join Haru and Kei as they go through university and learn what it means to choose someone over yourself.
1. Chapter 1

**You already know that when the third season came out that I was going to write up one of our favourite couples - KEI AND HARU! Woot woot! It's been a long time coming! Anyways, welcome to the THIRD instalment of these two lovebirds!**

 **I'm almost done the fic since there's only one more episode of the season (Who's cutting the onions? Why am I crying?!)! There's probably close to 20 chapters and that's it.**

 **So I'm thinking about posting a chapter every Wednesday in honour of the show? What do you think?**

 **ALSO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE PREVIOUS TWO STORIES OF HARU AND KEI THEN GO DO AND SO COME BACK HERE WHEN YOU'RE DONE, OKAY?!**

 **Also, remember to review and tell me your thoughts as we go through this journey together...again!**

* * *

I waited patiently outside of the gates of my university. I continued to stare at the time on my phone as other students made their way onto the grounds. No matter how much I stared at my phone, there was still no Haru in sight. A sigh escaped my lips as I thought about how he was probably in the pool, swimming, and lost track of time. I mentally slapped myself for not going there and dragging him out myself.

"Kei." I looked up and saw the familiar blue-eyed boy run up to me. "Sorry I'm late."

"At least you're here now. Did Makoto get you?" I asked him as he took my hand in his and we made our way onto the grounds of our university.

"Ya he did." Haru answered.

"Good. I was worried that you were going to be late." I told him. I smiled up at him as he looked at me.

"The water didn't want me to leave." He tried to reason with me.

"No, Haru. You didn't want to leave the water." I shook my head as I poked his arm with my index finger.

"Kei." I looked over to where Haru was now looking to see a red haired boy walking up to us. His hands were balled into fists and were held at his sides. He looked like a man on a mission with a face of determination. He stopped in front of us and Haru's hand squeezed mine slightly. We both turned to look at the guy head on.

"H-Hey, aren't you Nanase Haruka?" He asked as he pointed at my boyfriend. His voice ran a familiar tone in my brain, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "D-Do you remember me? We used to…" The boy was trying to find the words to explain himself.

"Asahi? Shiina Asahi?" Haru asked. The largest smile appeared on Asahi's face from Haru's answer. Then it also clicked in my brain who he was. I remembered going to school with him when we were younger and how he was just as loud then as he is now.

"That's right! I'm Asahi!" It appeared that he hadn't made eye contact with me yet. Just as he was about to continue speaking, he looked at me with a surprised face. "Mizuko Kei?"

"The one and only." I nodded my head. Asahi looked at our hands and then us before looking back at our hands and looking at us again. He pointed at our clasped hands with his mouth gaping open.

"Are you two dating?" He yelled.

"Yes." Haru answered.

"What? I've missed out on so much. Oh wait, do you remember Shigino Kisumi? He's at this university too!" Asahi said as he walked up to us.

"We did know that." I said.

"Man, for real? Wait, did you guys go to high school with him?" Asahi asked.

"No, we went to different high schools. His younger brother came to Iwatobi SC, so I saw him there again." Haru answered.

"SC?" Asahi asked.

"Asahi, are you still swimming?" Haru asked the red head in front of us.

"Huh? Of course I'm still swimming. I'm on my way to my first practice here. What about you? You quit the swim club after I moved away, right? And you never replied to my letters." Asahi asked.

"Sorry. But I started swimming again in high school. I'm heading to practice now, too." Haru answered.

"Really? That means we'll be on the same team again!" Asahi excitedly said. He placed his arm out for Haru to tap with his own.

"Ya." Haru agreed and tapped his arm with his friends.

"Well, since you two are together, I'll let you guys go to swim practice while I go to my own practice." I said after their exchange.

"Practice? Where are you going, Kei?" Asahi asked me.

"I have choir practice." I answered.

"Really? You're still singing? That's great! Maybe you can sing when we all go to karaoke together?" Asahi asked.

"Sure thing!" I nodded my head.

"We can walk you there since it's on the way." Haru suggested to me.

"I'm cool with that. Let's go!" Asahi exclaimed as the three of us began to walk towards our destination. "So, how long have you two been dating?"

"It's been over a year." I answered.

"No way! Is Makoto dating anyone?" Asahi asked.

"Nope." Haru answered.

"Good. I was worried that I was going to be the only one single." Asahi sighed with relief.

"What about Kisumi?" I asked.

"We all know that he's too much of a player to have a girlfriend. He's always got a different girl that he's talking to. Ugh! I don't know how he does it!" Asahi groaned. Haru and I laughed to ourselves at Asahi's answer.

"You sound a little jealous, Asahi." I teased the red head.

"I'm not! I get plenty of girls. I'm such a man." Asahi said as he pointed towards himself.

"Usually when guys say that, it's because they're not getting any girls." I pondered out loud.

"What? I totally do, Kei! Remember in school? All the girls wanted me." Asahi blatantly lied to us.

"I think you're getting yourself confused with Kisumi…again." I teased.

"Ugh, Kei!" I laughed at his frustration as we arrived at the building that I was supposed to go into.

"Well, this is my stop. I'll see you later, Asahi? I'll see you at home, Haru?" I clarified where we were meeting. Haru nodded his head, but Asahi butted into the exchange.

"Wait, you guys live together?" Asahi practically yelled.

"Yes." Haru simply stated. Asahi looked like he was going to pass out from shock.

"Too much has happened, that's it. We're all going to my sisters café after swim practice because I need to know about everything. Wait, if you guys live together then…have you-"

"That's none of your business!" I told him off before he could finish his question. "Now, I'll see you guys at your sisters café. Just get Haru to text me the address." I told the red head before turning and letting go of Haru's hand, so I could walk into the building. "See you boys later!" I waved as I quickly ran inside and allowed Haru and Asahi to make their way to swim practice together.

* * *

 _Marron_ was a cute coffee shop on the corner of a quiet street. Inside was spacious. There was a serving bar on the left side and tables and chairs against the window. Everything was made of dark hardwood and the blinds were a light green that brought a pop of colour to the place.

"So your older sister runs this shop, Asahi?" Makoto asked.

"It belonged to my mother-in-law. She ran it for ages." Asahi's sister clarified.

"Ya, so basically, it's my sister's shop now. Feel free to order anything you want." Asahi said.

"You'll have to pay though, of course." Asahi's sister said. We were sitting at a table by a window. Makoto and Haru were sitting next to each other while Asahi and Kisumi sat across from them. I sat at the end of the table with the chair that we pulled up for me.

"Man, sis, you're so stingy." Asahi complained.

"Well she needs to make a living. She has a baby to look after." I said.

"You better believe it! This is a business after all. Anyway, Makoto-kun, you sure have grown up." She said from behind the counter.

"Looks like a grown-up now, doesn't he?" Asahi teased.

"I didn't recognize you either. You grew up a lot." Makoto said to his red headed friend.

"Ya, well you know…by the way, Makoto, Haru told me that you're majoring in sports education? You're hoping to be a swimming teacher, right?" Asahi asked the brunette that was sitting next to me.

"Yes. I thought that it would be fun to teach little kids how fun swimming is." Makoto answered.

"Sounds just like you, Makoto." Kisumi chimed in.

"You moved to Kyushu after you left Iwatobi, right? Did you stick with swimming?" Makoto asked Asahi. I got up from the table and went to the bar where Asahi's sister was.

"Do you need help with anything?" I asked.

"Oh no, you go and sit with the boys." She politely declined my help.

"It's okay, they're catching up anyways. I better leave them to it." I said as I sat on the stool in front of her. I watched as she slowly and carefully made the coffee by pouring the water onto the grounded up beans.

"Asahi told me that you and Haru are dating." She stated.

"We are." I felt my cheeks begin to redden by the sudden statement. "I don't know why he brought that up so randomly."

"Don't worry, Kei." She laughed as she began to put the coffee in mugs. "He told me because I always knew you would end up dating either Haru or Makoto."

"Huh?" I was surprised by what she had said.

"Well you three were always so close in school. I just knew you would be with one of them." She explained.

"What about Asahi? I was his friend in school too." I added.

"You're too good for my brother." She whispered to me before laughing. I laughed with her as she placed the coffee mugs on a tray. A whimper could be heard from behind the counter and I peered over to see who it was. It was Asahi's nephew that began to stir in his sleep. "Ugh, I thought I got him down."

"I can play with him for a bit, if you want?" I offered.

"Really? That would be great! Here." Asahi's sister grabbed Tsukushi and introduced him to me. He reached out and allowed me to pick him up and place him in my lap. I began to make silly faces at the baby and he laughed and smiled. He had the same coloured hair as Asahi's sister donning on his head. His cheeks were so round and soft that I couldn't help, but to squeeze them.

"You're the cutest baby, aren't you? Huh? Yes you are. Yes you are." I cooed at Tsukushi as he smiled and laughed in my lap.

"You can look after him whenever you want, Kei." Asahi's sister said to me after she returned to the counter.

"Really? I love babies!" I admitted.

"I can see why." Tsukushi smiled at me as I continued to make funny faces at him. I heard the sound of a chair against wood and some footsteps before Haru appeared at my side. Both the Tsukushi and I looked at my boyfriend – who was now staring at us with wide eyes.

"Isn't he the cutest?" I asked.

"He is cute." Haru said. Tsukushi reached out his little hands towards Haru, signalling for him wanting to be held by him. Haru looked at him with a confused face.

"He wants you to hold him." I said. I stood up from the chair with Tsukushi on my hip. "It's not that hard. Here." I handed Haru the baby and watched him as he awkwardly held the baby in his arms. Tsukushi reached up and began to play with Haru's hair. I smiled at the sight and thought it was the cutest thing ever.

"You two are going to be the cutest parents one day!" Asahi's sister squealed.

"No! We're too young to be thinking about that!" I waved my hands at her while she laughed at my flustered expression.

"Well you guys live together, so you could practice." Asahi teased from his seat.

"You two live together?" Asahi's sister yelled.

"Yes…"I answered.

"Do we need to have 'the talk'?" She asked us.

"No!"

* * *

 **Looks like everything is going well for these two...nothing could possibly go wrong, right? Right? RIGHT?!**

 **What do you think will be the big problem for these two in this story?**

 **Leave a review and let me know! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Do you come to all of Haru's meets?" Kisumi asked me. We were sitting in the crowd for the Kanto Swim Meet. We managed to get some pretty good seats, so we could see everything from this view. I pushed Kisumi, so we would get the seats by the bar because I always liked to stand up against the bar whenever Haru was swimming.

"I do. It's important for me for support him at all times!" I said as I balled my hands into fists and pulled them to my chest. Kisumi laughed at my excitement.

"It's good that he has you to always support him." Kisumi said. I was about to add something onto that, but my phone began to ring. I saw Makoto's name across the screen and quickly answered.

"Makoto?"

"Kei!" Makoto said on the other side of the phone.

"What're you doing? You're late!" I scolded my friend.

"Sorry, my train was delayed." Makoto apologized.

"Hurry up. Haru and Asahi's race is about to start." I informed him.

"Right, where are you?" He asked me.

"In the audience. We're in the middle of the second level, so if you head upstairs, you'll see us." I told him.

"Okay, I'm on my way." Makoto said before hanging up the phone. I turned to look at Kisumi and said,

"Makoto will be here in a few minutes. He made it just in time for the race."

"I think I'll ask about giving him a ride next time. I have a car, so it's no big deal for me." Kisumi suggested.

"Really? That'd be great!" I clapped my hands together. "I always end up getting here super early. One because of Haru and two because I'm paranoid about missing his race." I laughed.

"That's not a bad thing! You always get your favourite seat by the bar, right?" Kisumi asked. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Haru always knows where to find me. I'm usually in the same place on either side of the arena, so it's always easy for him to spot me if he needs me." I said.

"Really? Does he wave to you or something?" I laughed at Kisumi's question.

"I could never picture him doing that. No, but I know that seeing a friendly face can be comforting, so I always make sure that he can see me." I stated.

"Kei, Kisumi." The two of us looked over our shoulders and saw Makoto running towards us. He planted himself right beside me with a big sigh.

"You made it!" I said.

"Welcome." Kisumi greeted. The pink haired boy looked back at the pool where Haru and Asahi were patiently waiting to start their race. "I don't think I've seen Asahi swim since middle school."

"Same here." Makoto said. I nodded in agreement.

"Regardless of who wins and loses, anyone who beats the designated time goes to the All-Japan Invitational, right?" Kisumi asked.

"No, this is just a newcomer tournament, so no matter how good their time is, there's no guarantee the go to the All-Japan." Makoto clarified. "Still, this is their first competition as college swimmers. It's an important debut for both Haru and Asahi." The swimmers got down into their ready positions and I readied myself to yell. With my charm bracelet on my right wrist, I was ready to yell for Haru. Once the sound was made, the swimmers took off into the water.

"Asahi!" Kisumi cheered.

"Haru!" Makoto and myself cheered.

"They're both so fast!" Kisumi was surprised by the speed that the boys showed, but I wasn't surprised by Haru.

"They're gaining even more speed!" Makoto commented after they made their turn.

"Amazing! They're way ahead!" Kisumi was thoroughly impressed. I saw Haru pull ahead of Asahi and hit the wall first. He came up form the water and pulled off his cap and goggles. I cheered from my seat. Haru and Asahi got out of the pool and gathered their things, so they could go and change. I saw Haru look up to where I was and I gave him a quick wave before he entered the tunnel to change.

"So Kisumi, what do you think?" Makoto asked our pink haired friend.

"That was amazing! I forgot how exciting it is to watch you guys compete." Kisumi said as he threw his arms up in the arm with excitement. The three of us continued to talk as we waited for the two boys to come and join us in the stands. Makoto pulled up his phone with a confused look on his face.

"What is it?" Kisumi asked. I leaned over and peaked at Makoto's phone.

 _Iku-chan, a guy who swam a relay with Mako-chan and Haru-chan in middle school, might be at the newcomer tournament! Sou-chan said he saw him swim at a tournament last summer._

"Ikuya?" I asked.

"Ikuya's still swimming?" Makoto asked. "And he might be at this tournament!"

"What? Ikuya?" Kisumi asked.

"We have to go tell Haru and Asahi!" I told the two boys. They nodded their heads in agreement and we got out of our seats. We walked up to the tunnel and was about to leave, but Asahi and Haru had just rounded the corner to come see us.

"Guys guess what!" Asahi and Haru ran over to us.

"Ikuya might be here!" I told them.

"How did you guys know?" Asahi asked. Makoto showed the two boys the text he had received.

"Does anyone have the rosters for today?" I asked the boys. Makoto handed me his book and I began to flip through the pages. "Let's see…Kirishima Ikuya…" They all crowded around me as we looked through the book together.

"There he is!" Maokoto pointed on the page.

"Shimogami University?" I wondered aloud after reading the university he was representing.

"Looks like he's only in IM." Asahi said once he looked at the page.

"IM?" Kisumi asked.

"It stands for individual medley." Asahi clarified.

"He's not swimming in relays anymore?" Haru asked.

"Isn't Shimogami University a really strong sports school?" Makoto pondered.

"Shimo U has a lot of unique athletes." A voice called over to us. We looked over and saw the back of a tall man with shaggy brown hair. He wore a black trench coat that went down to his knees and grey pants to go with it. "Their supporters are sitting over there." He pointed towards the other side of the pool into the crowd. We took no time in running to the other side of the crowd to where the stranger pointed us to.

"They're over there." I pointed to the students with the jackets that had Shimogami written on the back. We made our way over and walked down the stairs to some of the Shimogami swimmers.

"Um, excuse me." Makoto lead us over to the group of swimmers. "Is there a Kirishima Ikyua here?"

"Who are you guys?" The dark brown haired boy asked us with his arms crossed over his chest.

"We were Ikuya's buddies in middle school." Asahi introduced us.

"That's the guy that was really fast in the 100m free." The dark brown haired boy pointed to Haru as soon as he recognized him. "Nanase Haruka from Iwatobi, right?"

"Ya." Haru nodded his head.

"I remember you now!" Asahi exclaimed. "You're Terashima Kotarou, aren't you?" He pointed to the ash blonde haired boy in front of us.

"Huh?" He looked confused as to what Asahi was saying.

"Terashima, the Archerfish of Naruto!" Asahi exclaimed.

"Why archerfish?" Kisumi asked. The way that Terashima's eyes narrowed in on Asahi was not a friendly sign. He stood up from his seat and has his hands balled into fists as he looked at our red headed friend.

"Don't call me that!" He yelled before bring his hand down onto Asahi's head. Asahi fell backwards and was caught by Makoto and Kisumi.

"Look, that was totally uncalled for." I said to Terashima.

"And who are you?" He asked me.

"That's not important. We just want to know if Kirishima Ikuya is here." I stood up tall and held my ground as I looked at him.

"That nickname is taboo in Terashima's presence." His friend said after he finished laughing.

"Just be happy to have a nickname." Asahi said as he stood back up. "I only have the nickname that I gave myself, the Marlin of Genkainada, and nobody uses it!"

"Are we really having this discussion right now?" I sighed as my head lowered in defeat. I was reminded on how small men's brains are in that very moment.

"Wow, what a loser!" Terashima said.

"What did you say?" Asahi brought his face closer to his new enemy's.

"Enough!" I told the two boys off. They both looked at me with surprised face. My arms were crossed over my chest as I could feel a vein showing in my forehead through frustration with the boys in front of me. "This conversation is getting us nowhere. Just tell us if Kirishima Ikyua is here."

"No, he isn't." We looked over to the brunette who was wearing glasses. "You don't see him, do you?" He smiled at us, but it was the way he answered that made my head tilt slightly.

"And you couldn't tell us earlier?" I questioned. He completely ignored me and looked towards the pool.

"Look, the next race is about to start. Shouldn't you go back to your own seats to cheer them on?" He smiled that same fake smile at us. A part of me wanted to reach over and slap it off of his face.

"Come on, let's go." I said before I turned on my heels and began to walk away. The others followed me back to our original seats on the other side of the pool area.

"That guy with the glasses from Shimo U was a real jerk. We didn't get to see Ikuya either." Asahi said as he slumped in his chair and placed his hands on the back of his head.

"Well, we were the ones were went over and butted in." Kisumi tried to reason with Asahi.

"He didn't need to be so rude about it though. Him and his fake smile. You can totally see right through it." I mumbled to myself. I felt a hand rest on my knee. My eyes trailed up to see Haru looking at me with soft eyes.

"It's okay, Kei." He said to me.

"I can't stand people like that. He could've told us sooner, but I think he was enjoying Asahi getting into a fight with that archerfish guy." I told him.

"I know, but he's not here now, so you don't have to think about it." Haru told me. I huffed in my seat and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I know." I mumbled. Haru was right and I knew it, so I just needed to accept it and move on.

"Oh, it's starting." Makoto said. We all looked towards the pool and saw Ikuya walk out with his university jacket on. "This is Ikuya's IM." Seeing Ikuya in person after so many years brought back happy memories from our days in school. Ikuya was a good friend of ours that we enjoyed having around. He was funny and quiet with the sweetest smile any kid could have. A small smile played on my lips as I looked at him. I was happy that he was back from America.

We all watched his swimming with precision. He was a master at all the strokes and was incredibly fast. Ikuya wasted no time in pulling ahead of everyone else that was in the pool with him, but when he reached the freestyle leg of his race – that was when we were all shocked. There was something so similar to Ikuya's strokes. Something so familiar. I looked over to Haru to see him staring at Ikuya with the same intensity as the rest of us.

"He swims like you, Haru." I stated.

"Didn't Ikuya swim the breaststroke in middle school?" Kisumi asked. Ikuya had won the race, but none of us were surprised at that due to the fact that he was so ahead of everyone else. However, his power from stroke to stroke was the cause for surprise.

"Yes, that was his main." Asahi said.

"In the summer of our first year, he said he wanted to get better at swimming free." Haru said.

"It's not just his free. He's mastered the butterfly and backstroke too." Makoto said.

"Why do you only swim free?" We looked to our rights to see the same man that pointed us to the Shimo U's side. He stood there with his hands in his pockets as he stared at Haru. "Is that really all you want to do?" He began to walk away as he said, "Well, just give it some thought."

"What's his deal anyway?" Asahi asked.

"No idea." Haru admitted.

"Maybe he's a coach or a scout or something." Kisumi suggested.

"You think so?" Makoto asked.

"Wait, I almost forgot! Ikuya!" Asahi said. We all then jumped up from our seats and left the area. We headed towards the change rooms, but the boys came out and informed me that he wasn't there. With defeat hanging over our heads, so we ended up leaving the arena without seeing Ikuya.

* * *

 **Remember to leave me your thoughts! See you next week!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Good morning, Haru." I yawned as I rolled over in bed. My arm reached out where to feel the familiar chest that belonged to my boyfriend, but was surprised when he wasn't there. I opened my eyes and sat up in bed. Haru was nowhere to be seen. Once I got out of bed, I walked over to the bathroom to see if Haru was in the tub. Luckily, he was. "Haru…"

"Morning, Kei." Haru sulked as he went deeper into the water of the tub. I sighed and walked over to him. I kneeled beside the tub and crossed my arms on the edge, so my head would have somewhere to rest.

"How long have you been soaking?" I questioned.

"I needed to think." He answered.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Haru never answered me. My heart went out to my boyfriend. Haru was one of the kindest people I had ever met. I'd admit that he's not very aware of his surroundings most of the time, but that didn't make him a bad person. Seeing him so upset by the meeting he had with Ikuya the previous night bothered me to no end. "We'll find him, okay?" Haru looked at me with a surprised face. "We will. We'll find him and you'll make things right." A soft smile formed on my lips. "Now come on, I'll make us something to eat and then we have to be off, okay?" Haru nodded. I leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his lips before getting up and heading to the kitchen.

* * *

"Hello?" My phone was placed against my ear as I sat on a bench with my bento box in my lap. The brisk air was nice on my skin since the current stresses of life were making my body overheat.

"Hey, Kei." Sosuke greeted me. I smiled when I heard his voice.

"Hey, Sosuke! What's up? How're things back home?" I asked as I began to eat my lunch.

"They're good. The restaurant is doing well and therapy is good too." He answered.

"Good! That's what I like to hear. It's nice to get some good news every once in a while." I sighed into the phone.

"Kei? What's wrong?" I could hear the concern in Sosuke's voice.

"Well, you know that guy Ikuya that you saw at the swim meet? He's a friend of ours from middle school and we were hoping to see him at the Newcomer Tournament, but we didn't. Then, Haru had to run back because he forgot his towel and he saw him. Ikuya was pretty mean, apparently, and now Haru has been sulking every since." I explained.

"Well are you going to just stop there?" Sosuke asked me. I shook my head.

"Obviously not! We'll find him and he'll be friends with Haru again and then he won't be sulking anymore!" I practically yelled. Other students turned their heads to look at me and I bowed as an apology. Sosuke began to laugh on the phone.

"You sound like a super hero. Have you been watching too much anime again?"

"Sosuke! There's no such thing as too much anime!" I scolded my friend on the phone. "Well, I will help Haru. I don't like seeing him like this." I gripped my chopsticks just a little tighter in my hand as I looked at my box of food. "I love him and seeing him upset hurts me. I just want to help him any way that I can."

"He's lucky to have someone like you, Kei." Sosuke said. "I just hope he does the same for you."

"Huh?"

"You always put him first no matter what. You're always there for him and I just hope that, when push comes to shove, he's there for you too." Sosuke explained.

"I believe he will be. He loves me." I told him.

"Whatever you say, Kei."

* * *

"Welcome home, Haru." I greeted the raven coloured haired boy after he walked in through the front door.

"Hey, Kei." Haru said. He walked over to me and engulfed me in his arms. A big sigh escaped his lips as he began to place all his weight onto my frame.

"How was the meeting? Sorry, I couldn't come, but practice ran late." I said. My hands rested on Haru's back as I began to rub small circles into his shirt.

"We have so many questions." Haru said.

"I know. We'll get the answers." I tried to give Haru some sort of encouragement.

"When did you stop writing letters to him?" Haru asked.

"We only got a chance to send a couple before he stopped replying to me. I'm sorry. I wish I had something that could help." Haru stood up straight and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

"It's okay. You're doing your best." He said. I smiled at Haru as he looked at me.

"We'll figure something out!"

* * *

"I'm here." Kisumi said as he walked into Asahi's sisters coffee shop. We were all sitting at the same table before, but this time, I was sitting next to Haru and Makoto was sitting next to Asahi.

"Don't give us that! You didn't call or anything. What have you been doing?" Asahi scolded our pink haired friend as he sat down at the head of the table.

"Gathering information." Kisumi winked at us. "I jus recently became friends with a senpai whose boyfriend is in Shimo U's swim club."

"Really?" I gasped.

"For real?" Asahi was surprised. Kisumi nodded his head.

"And according to the information that senpai gave me, this is X day!" Kisumi pulled out his calendar and placed it on the table. There was a red circle on the 25th of that month that said _X Day_.

"X day?" Asahi was confused.

"It's the day he doesn't have swimming practice. That's the day you should go see Ikuya." Kisumi said.

"We should? What about you?" Makoto asked.

"Oh, I'm meeting up with another club that day." Kisumi admitted.

"Damn it, Kisumi! Which is more important, your friends or your clubs?" Asahi scolded the pink haired boy again. He took him into a headlock while Kisumi laughed.

"They're both important!" Kisumi said.

"Friendship, right?" Asahi asked at the same time.

"He needs a social life outside of us, you know?" I tried to reason with Asahi.

"But we're his friends too!" Asahi looked at me.

"I know that, but he did help by getting us this information, so we can't be too angry with him." Asahi sighed as he finally let go of Kisumi, so he could sit up straight again.

"Do you have any other information you can give us?" I asked.

"No, sorry. But I know you guys will find him and corner him to become our friend again!" Kisumi exclaimed.

"He'll be more our friend than yours at this rate." Asahi groaned as he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted his lips.

"Here it is! My senpai wrote it down for me. These are the directions to the pool." Asahi placed the paper on the table, so we could all see it.

"This is amazing, Kisumi! Thank you." Makoto thanked.

"Thank you." Haru said.

"Now, come the 25th, Ikuya will be our friend again!" I pumped my arm up in the air.

* * *

 **Hey! I need you to leave a review otherwise I won't post up the rest of this story because it's done and ready to go. Just saying.**


	4. Chapter 4

Haru, Asahi, Makoto and myself all walked onto Shimogami University campus. It looked completely different from our own universities. We knew we were on enemy territory, so we walked around carefully. As carefully as Asahi could walk, anyways. The instructions written on the piece of paper told us which building to go to for the pool, so we made our way there.

"They left the door open?" I asked as Asahi opened up the door. We walked up the stairs and into one of the rooms that overlooked the pool. There was no one in sight.

"See? Kisumi told us they weren't practicing today, didn't he?" Asahi said.

"So Kisumi was actually right?" Haru was surprised by the fact that our pink haired friend was right. I think we all were.

"You didn't believe him?" Asahi asked.

"At this time of day, he might still be in class." Makoto awkwardly laughed.

"Which department is Ikuya in?" Haru asked Asahi. Asahi looked at us with a blank expression before exclaiming,

"Damn it, I forgot to ask!"

"You had one job." I sighed. Asahi quickly ran off into the corner and pulled out his phone, so he could talk to Kisumi. The three of us waited patiently for Asahi to finish. We heard his side of the conversation and saw him nod his head a couple of times before putting his phone away.

"He can't ask his senpai because she's going to a movie with her boyfriend." Asahi sighed.

"Then looks like we'll have to find him the old fashion way." I said. The four of us made our way outside of the building and began to walk around the campus.

"Are we going to find him just wandering around?" Asahi questioned. We rounded a corner and continued on the path. We all looked up and saw a very familiar man walking towards us. His ash blonde hair was the first thing I noticed and then I realized who he was. Before I could stop Asahi, he opened his big mouth to say,

"Archerfish of Naruto!"

"Don't call me that!" Terashima yelled.

"Drop it, Asahi. You too, Archerfish." Haru placed his hand on Asahi's shoulder.

"That wasn't the best way to tell him to stop." I sighed to myself as Haru used the nickname that clearly would get us nowhere.

"We're here to see Kirishima Ikuya." Haru stated.

"Well, we don't have practice today. I'm on my way to see a movie with my girlfriend. We're seeing _A Rat's Life 2_." Terashima proudly held up the tickets to the movie.

"A Rat's…" Makoto began to say.

"That doesn't sound pleasant." I mumbled.

"Wait, so is Kisumi's senpai's boyfriend actually…" Asahi pulled out his phone and quickly sent out a text.

"What? You guys know Misae-san?" Terashima questioned.

"Her name's Misae-san?" Asahi added the information to his text message. "It is!" Asahi proudly held up his phone to Terashima to show him a text he had received.

"Even Misae-san is calling me Archerfish?" Terashima looked defeated by the text as he threw his head back and groaned.

"Girlfriends should get a pass though, shouldn't say?" I asked.

"That aside-" Haru's sentence cut off by an upset Terashima.

"Don't put that aside!"

"Do you know where Ikuya is now?" Haru asked.

"And why should I have to tell you?" Terashima didn't want to give up any information.

"Don't be like that." Asahi started. "I might even have my friend to have your girlfriend say, Terashima is so amazing! If you help us out, that is." Asahi bribed the man in front of us. Thankfully, he finally gave up the information and we began our walk to the department where Ikuya studies. When we arrived we stood on the stairs and looked into the window of the building, but everyone had already gone.

"Nobody in there." Asahi said.

"Maybe they all left already?" Makoto suggested.

"What are you guys doing here?" We looked to the top of the stairs to see the familiar brunette with the fake smile from the competition.

"We're just here to see an old friend form middle school." Asahi answered.

"This again?" The brunette seemed annoyed by Asahi's answer. "Ikuya doesn't have time to waste looking back on the past."

"What did you-" Asahi was about to walk forward, but Haru placed his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Nanase-kun, wasn't it?" He looked right at Haru. "Didn't I tell you last time that Ikuya's a busy guy?"

"There's no practice today, right?" Haru challenged him.

"There's no practice, but he's training on his own. I wish you wouldn't bother him."

"Listen, we won't do anything to interfere with his training. We just want to see him." I told him. I was annoyed by the way the brunette stood there and stared at us.

"We just want to talk to him a little." Makoto added.

"If you really have to, can you wait until after his training?" The brunette sighed in defeat. "He should be done in about two hours."

"Fine. We'll meet you at the pool in two hours." I said.

"Good. I'll see you then." The brunette then turned away and walked towards the pool. I groaned in frustration with the brunette.

"Why is he so annoying?" I asked.

"I wish I didn't have to be nice to him. It's like he's keeping Iukya under lock and key." Asahi raged with me.

"Maybe we should go get something to eat?" Makoto suggested. The two of us looked at him with confused faces. "So then you two can calm down a bit?"

"The best way to calm Kei down is to feed her." Haru stated.

* * *

We all ate our food as we complained about the brunette that caged up Ikuya and only let him out to practice swimming. Asahi and myself agreed to tie up the brunette and throw him off the closest bridge when we got a chance. Makoto told us we were being unreasonable, but Haru refused to get involved. Afterwards, we planned on what we were going to say to Ikuya, so he would see that we felt bad for everything that happened all those years ago.

"I want a pork cutlet bowl."

"Huh?" We all looked at the end of the table to see the same man from the tournament. He wore his same trench coat and kept his hair shaggy as he stood there.

"But this cafeteria's pork cutlet bowls suck." He said as he slurped some more of his noodles.

"The mackerel's good." Haru said.

"I hate mackerel." The man said. I looked at Haru to see if his facial expression would change because someone had now said something negative about his precious mackerel. Sadly, he kept his facial expression the same. "Yo, we meet again."

"You're the guy from…" Makoto realized where we've seen this man before.

"Since you're all here, I'll honour the occasion by telling you this, the best meal this cafeteria has is the kitsune udon." I could feel my facial expression change to a confused one as I looked at the man in front of us.

"What the…" My sentence dropped off as he turned around and began to walk away.

"Sorry to interrupt." He apologized and then walked away completely.

"He's such a weird man." I said as I looked back at my bowl. I heard my phone ding and pulled it out of my pocket. I had a reminder on my phone for choir practice. My hand went up and I slapped my forehead for forgetting.

"Choir practice?" Haru asked. He had leaned over my shoulder to see what I was looking at on my phone.

"Sorry guys, I'm going to have to leave you. I completely forgot about my own practice." I said.

"Can't you miss it?" Asahi asked me.

"I wish, but I've been given a solo and it's really important since our recital is coming up. I'm practicing one-on-one with the director today, so I can't stand him up." I explained.

"When's your recital?" Makoto asked.

"In a couple of weeks. It's before the next swim meet, which works out perfectly." I smiled at them.

"So we can come and watch?" Asahi asked. I nodded my head.

"Mhm! I'd love it if you all came and watched me to be honest. It'd make me really happy." I looked up at Haru and smiled. "Haru will be there and he's been to all of my recitals, so he knows the drill."

"Well, we're going to miss having you when we run into _that_ guy again." Asahi was referring to the brunette that we both didn't like.

"Well, I'll be with you in spirit. Besides, I know that you can take care of him, Asahi." I winked at my friend from across the table. "Besides, you guys will be meeting with him soon, right?" I looked at my phone and saw that they only had to wait another half an hour.

"I know. I'm kind of nervous." Asahi admitted.

"Don't be." I stood up form my chair and took hold of my tray. "Ikuya will be touched by the amount of effort you guys have gone to get in touch with him. Now, I have to get running, so I'll see you guys later." I quickly left my group and walked out of the cafeteria. I made my way through the campus and towards the front gate. When I rounded a corner I accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry." I apologized.

"It's okay." I looked up and was surprised by whom I was standing in front of.

"Ikuya."

* * *

 **Yo yo yo! Make sure you read the previous stories, okay?**


	5. Chapter 5

"Kei?" His hair was the same colour green as it was when we were kids. He had grown taller and I was now looking up at him.

"Ikuya." My voice was so small at that moment. I didn't know what to do. "I thought you were training?"

"How did you know?" He asked me.

"That friend of yours, with the glasses. He told us." I answered.

"Us?"

"Haru, Asahi and Makoto are here. I should tell them where you are." I pulled my phone out of my pocket, so I could send off a quick text, but was stopped by Iukya.

"Please don't." I looked at him with a confused expression. "I don't want to see them right now."

"But they came all this way to talk to you. They wanted to apologize." I tried to reason with him.

"If you tell them where I am then I'll leave right now." Ikuya threatened. With a sigh, I placed my phone back into my pocket. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be this rude to you."

"What happened to you?" I asked him. He looked at me with a confused face. "You're not the Ikuya I went to school with all those years ago. You stopped sending me letters. I thought we were friends?"

"I needed to focus, in America." He answered. "Know that I was never mad at you."

"I'm not even mad at you now." I admitted. Ikuya seemed shocked by my words. "You never replied to my mail and never told me when you came back to Japan, but I'm still not mad at you. I just want you to be friends with us again."

"I don't know." Ikuya looked away from me.

"Haru misses you, you know?" Ikuya's head snapped back to look at me. His eyes bore into mine as he looked with such intensity. "We all miss you. We all found each other again once we started university. Then we saw you and all we wanted was to bring you back into our circle."

"You think it's that easy?" Ikuya balled his hands into fists. "Do you think we can just go back to the way things used to be? Have you always lived in a fairy tale, Kei?"

"Why can't we?" My question was so simple that his face softened and his fists released. "The only one who's putting up a fight is you. The rest of us all became friends again as soon as we saw each other."

"You guys have always been weird." Ikuya pouted.

"And you've always been a typical boy who never wants to admit his feelings." I stepped closer to him and put my hand out. He looked at me with a quizzical look. "Hand me your phone." He reluctantly handed me his phone. I quickly punched in the only number that mattered. "This is Haru's number. I think you should talk to him."

"Why are you-"

"Because I know you guys will work it out. The boys are waiting for you by the pool if you want to see them. If not, at least call the number." I told Ikuya.

"Are you going to tell them that we've met?" He asked.

"Of course."

"Oh…"

"Now, I need to go. Ikuya, can you just please remember that friends are important." With that, I walked away form the green haired boy. Once I was out of earshot, I pulled out my phone and quickly called Haru.

"Kei?"

"I just spoke with Ikuya. We were near the front of the university. If you hurry then you might still catch him." I informed my boyfriend.

"Really?"

"Yes, now hurry up. I'll talk to you later." With that I hung up my phone and placed it in my pocket.

* * *

When I arrived back home, I saw Haru standing at the balcony. After placing my stuff down, I walked over to him and stood beside him. Haru was lucky since we lived right next to a pool where he could go and swim whenever he felt like it.

"Did you manage to catch Ikuya?" I asked him.

"No." He answered. My gaze dropped towards my hands as I realized that he had missed his friend and it might have been my fault. "What did you guys talk about?"

"We didn't talk for long. I asked him why he stopped writing and he said that it was because he needed to focus while he was in America. I also told him that you guys missed him and it would be good for him to talk to you guys. I told him where you guys were, so he could go find you. He didn't want me calling you while I was with him, so that's why I wasn't able to tell you before. Sorry." I apologized.

"It's not your fault." Haru said.

"I gave him your number though. I told him to call you and talk things through." I added.

"Did you guys talk about anything else?" He asked. I debated on whether or not I should tell him the next bit of information I was given, but I decided to do so. I never lied to Haru and I wasn't about to start.

"He told me that he's not mad with me."

"That's good." Haru said.

"Haru, he said that he doesn't think it'll be easy being friends again." My voice became very quiet as I told him what Ikuya said to me. I could feel the air around us change with that information. "But I told that that you guys can. I told him that we could all easily be friends again." I turned to look at Haru to see him still staring at the pool. I reached out and wrapped my arm around his. I rested my forehead against his bicep and closed my eyes. "It'll be fine. I promise. He just needs some time."

"I'm going to go for a swim." Haru moved his arm from my grasp and turned around, so he could go back into our apartment. He grabbed his swimming bag and I watched him leave out the door. I felt the wind pass me by, as I stood there alone. With my hand held over my heart, I thought that maybe I shouldn't have told him what Ikuya said. I wondered if I had caused Haru even more pain.

* * *

 _Makoto is going to race Toono, glasses guy, at backstroke. The wager is meeting Ikuya._

I looked at the text with a confused face. Haru never told me that Makoto was racing Ikuya's annoying friend. My eyes scanned over the time on our clock and I saw that it was almost 10:00PM. Haru still wasn't home. I wondered what he was thinking about. I figured that I should call the one person I always ask for advice.

"Kei?"

"Hey, Sosuke." I answered.

"What's up? Do you know what time it is? Don't you sleep soon, you old lady?" Sosuke teased me. I could hear him laughing at him own joke.

"Listen, I like to get a good amount of sleep in before class, okay? You know what I'm like when I don't get enough sleep." I said.

"You become even more annoying than what you are now." Sosuke teased me some more.

"I can hang up this phone." I threatened.

"You're the one who called me, so that'll just affect you." I realized that Sosuke was right. I sighed in defeat. "So what's up?"

"It's been a bit of a day." I explained everything that had happened that day from the university, to me meeting Ikuya, to explaining everything to Haru, to the text message and back to how I felt bad for telling Haru the truth.

"Haru always seems to have the most interesting friends." Sosuke said.

"Sosuke…" I warned.

"I'm just saying! But, on a serious note, you shouldn't feel guilty about telling Haru the truth. Imagine what you would've felt like if you didn't tell him?" Sosuke suggested.

"I'd feel pretty shitty."

"Exactly. Kei, you're overthinking it. You know that Haru isn't going to blame you for what Ikuya said. Maybe this'll help him with coming up with a way to make Ikuya your friend again." Sosuke said.

"Maybe…" I couldn't fully agree with what Sosuke was saying. I still felt guilty.

"Listen, I'm sure that if you told Haru you felt bad then he'd tell you not to. You're just overthinking it, as always." I groaned and lied down on my bed.

"Why do I do this?" I complained as I rubbed my face with my hand.

"It's because you care. You care a lot more than most people. It's also because you're trying to make sure Haru is okay. You have to remember that you're not the sole reason as to why he's still swimming like the fish that he is." Sosuke explained.

"I know." I sighed.

"Now, I suggest that you go to sleep before you begin to overthink again because I don't want you calling me at one." Sosuke said.

"That was one time." I huffed.

"Listen, I will always pick up your call, but I don't want that happening again. Besides, it's past your bed time, old lady." I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 11 now.

"Wait, I've been complaining about my problems, but I never asked how you are." I remembered.

"I'm fine, Kei. Now go to sleep." Sosuke said.

"Are you sure?" I asked one more time.

"The doctor said that I need to make a choice."

"A choice?" I was confused as to what he was talking about.

"He said that I'll be able to swim again if I keep up with my physio, but it won't be professionally. But I can swim professionally if I get surgery done."

"Surgery? Have you talked about this with your brother?" I questioned.

"Not yet." He answered.

"Do you know what you want to do?"

"Not yet."

"I want you to follow your heart." I said.

"That's not very helpful." Sosuke teased. I could hear the smile on his lips.

"I'm being serious! This is a big decision and you're going to have to make it on your own. I want you to make a decision that you can stand behind, 100%! No matter what happens." I explained.

"I understand."

"I think a big question is, do you want to swim competitively again?"

"I'll have to think about it." Sosuke admitted.

"Whatever you do decide, I'll support you all the way." I encouraged him.

"I know you will. Now go to sleep, old lady." Sosuke told me.

"Fine. Goodnight, Sosuke."

"Goodnight, Kei." With that I hung up the phone and place my phone on the table. Once I crawled into bed I snuggled under the blanket and got comfortable. As I fell between being asleep and awake, I heard Haru come home from the pool. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth once I knew he was home. Then I was able to finally go to sleep, knowing that he was home.

* * *

 **Oh Snap...do we have any thoughts as to what might happen next? Yes? No?**

 **Should Kei have told Haru about Ikuya or should she have kept that to herself?**


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Haru had already left for the day, which I was surprised about. I knew that his first lecture was at the same time as mine today, so why he was gone so early was a mystery. My brain began to think that maybe he was avoiding me, but I quickly shook my head and remembered what Sosuke told me. I knew I shouldn't overthink everything. After I got ready I began to make some breakfast. I heard the front door open and saw Haru walk in.

"Good morning, Haru." I said.

"Morning, Kei."

"Were you swimming again?" I asked him. I noticed that his hair was wet and that he had the familiar swimming bag that he took.

"Yes." He answered.

"Did you sleep last night?" I asked.

"Yes." Haru tried to walk away from me, but I stopped him one last time.

"Do you want me to make you something?" I offered.

"No." Haru then walked into the bathroom and closed the door. I felt my heart drop a bit by his actions, but tried to remember that it wasn't my fault. After I finished eating I decided to leave, without Haru and head towards class.

The train ride to the university was different without Haru. I didn't have someone to talk to or someone to lean on, but it was just different because I didn't have the comfort that Haru always brought with him. I tried to forget about my feelings and go about my day as normal. I went to lecture, had my lunch, sat with some friends and finished my day.

Afterwards, Makoto had his race with Ikuya's friend. I met up with the rest of the boys at the swimming pool by Haru and I's apartment. Makoto was already in the pool warming up for the race. Kisumi was sitting by the side of the pool watching Makoto.

"Hey, Kisumi!" I waved at my pink haired friend when he looked at me.

"Hey, Kei! I feel like I haven't seen you in a while."

"I know, right? I think it's only been a couple of days though." I tried to remember the last time I saw Kisumi.

"Haru told us what Ikuya said to you." Kisumi said.

"Oh…" I didn't know how to respond to that.

"Why do you-"

"Hey!" Kisumi and I both looked over to the door and saw Haru and Asahi heading towards us.

"You're late." Kisumi scolded them.

"Sorry. Practice ran late." Asahi apologized.

"Well, you're here now and that's all that matters." I said. Makoto climbed out of the pool and made his way towards us.

"Makoto." Haru handed his best friend a green towel to wipe his face with.

"Thank you, Haru." Makoto took the towel and wiped some of the chlorine off of his face with it.

"Is there really any point to this?" Kisumi asked as he placed his hands behind his head. "Isn't it kinda childish to bet things in contest like this? I don't get it."

"I guess that's kind of why I'm doing it." Makoto laughed. "Maybe if I swim with him, I'll understand him better. Also, something about that Toono guy bothers me."

"He doesn't just bother you." I said as I side glanced at Asahi. He looked at me with a smirk, knowing full well that the two of us don't like Toono either.

"I still don't get it." Kisumi admitted.

"We understand each other by swimming. Right, Haru?" Asahi said.

"Ya." Haru agreed.

"What! Don't leave me out of the group!" Kisumi complained.

"I don't get it either, Kisumi." I tried to make him feel better.

"Really?" Kisumi looked at me with a surprised face.

"I understand my friends through singing together though." I nodded my head.

"What! You too?" Kisumi complained. We all laughed at his excited nature.

"Hey…" All of us looed over our shoulders and saw a young boy with light brown hair and amber coloured eyes. He wore a red swimming cap on top of his with his goggles that matched his eye colour on top. "Aren't you…"

"Misaki-kun?" Makoto asked. I looked at Haru and Makoto and smiled. I remembered the kid we had met earlier this year.

"Hi again!" He greeted us.

"Hi there!" We greeted back.

"Hey, Misaki!" We heard someone yelling for the boy in front of us. It was probably his mother.

"Coming!" He yelled back. He bowed to us before running to the voice.

"Who's that?" Kisumi asked.

"Misaki-kun. We met him over spring break, when we went to see Haru and Kei's apartment." Makoto explained.

"He was training really hard at swimming, because he had a rival he wanted to beat." I added.

"His coach had suddenly quit, so Haru and I gave him some swimming guidance for a while." Makoto pointed towards the piece of paper that was advertising for a new swim coach.

"I guess they still haven't found a new coach." Haru said as he looked at the advertisement.

"I hope he'll be able to laugh with his rival when he sees him again." Makoto said.

"Me too." I admitted.

* * *

"You're early." Toono looked surprised to see us all standing by the pool when he came out of the change room.

"We thought you weren't coming." Haru said.

"I keep my promises, unlike you." Toono took a jab at Haru. I felt my temper flare as I balled my fist and took a step forward.

"Why you little-"

"Kei." Makoto said my name. I looked up at him and saw him staring straight at Toono with a hard expression. I turned my head and kissed my teeth. I knew this wasn't my battle today.

"Well, ready to get started, Tachibana-kun?" Toono asked. Makoto nodded his head in agreement. The two swimmers got into the pool while we waited on the side. My heart began to race as I watched. I looked over at Haru and saw his clenched jaw. My hand found his hand I gave it a squeeze.

"Take your marks." Asahi announced. Once he blew the whistle, the two began to swim. Aafter the turn we noticed that they were neck and neck. Haru's grip on my hand tightened as we both watched them swimming in front of us. However, when they reached the wall, Toono touched it first.

"Yes!" He said. Toono and Makoto both took off their goggles and caps. "You're pretty good." He complimented Makoto. The two got out of the pool and came towards us. I handed Makoto his towel, so he would be able to wipe his face again. "Tachibana-kun, for a guy who hasn't swum in a while, you put up a good fight. I'm really impressed."

"You're a great swimmer too. I couldn't believe it. Thanks for doing this." Makoto walked up to him and gave Toono his hand to shake. Toono looked at it before looking back at us.

"But I don't think you deserve to see Ikuya." Makoto's hand dropped back at his side.

"What? You're still saying that?" Asahi took a step forward as he yelled.

"Asahi…" Kisumi warned him.

"But since you took the time to race me, I'll tell you one thing you don't know about Ikuya." Toono tried to reason with us.

"Something we don't know?" Haru questioned.

"Ikuya nearly drowned from lack of oxygen in middle school, right? Actually, after that, he had another oxygen deprivation incident in America." Toono said. All of our mouths dropped with shock and surprise. Ikuya almost drowned, again? "It was pretty serious. He was in the hospital for a while."

"No way…" Makoto said what we were all thinking.

"Ikuya is very delicate. Of course, in the end, he overcame his accident and turned out stronger than ever before. But you know, I've heard and learned a lot of things about you, Nanase-kun." Toono looked right at Haru. "Everyone who swims with you ends up suffering somehow, huh?" Toono had a wicked smile on his face as he said the one thing that would hurt Haru the most. My heart dropped and my temper rose.

"What did you say?" I yelled at him. I took a step forward and felt someone place their hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

"I'm just saying the truth." Toono said.

"You're spouting garbage! Actual shit! How dare you say that!" I yelled at the man in front of me. I walked right up to him and looked him in his eyes. "And who do you think you are, huh? Walking around putting your friend up as a prize for a bet?"

"You don't know, huh? I'm Ikuya's best friend." Toono said.

"That doesn't mean you get to be possessive over him!" I yelled at him. "You call yourself a best friend? Let Ikuya make his own God damn choices!"

"Like I said, he's delicate."

"And I'm losing my God damn patience with you!"

"And why should I care?" Toono brought his face closer to mine in a threatening manner.

"You don't even know, do you?" Toono stood back up straight.

"Know what?"

"I saw Ikuya yesterday." Toono's eyes widened at my words. "I talked to him for a bit too. I even gave him Haru's number because he should decide who he does and doesn't want to talk to." I leaned forward, so there was barely any room between us now. "Who's the big man now?"

"Tsk." Toono looked away from me. He waited a few seconds before turning around and walking away.

"Wow! Kei! Good job!" Kisumi cheered.

"You got him, Kei! Finally!" Asahi sighed. I turned around and looked at my friends. Asahi and Kisumi were both looking at me with a smile on my face. Makoto was looking at Haru with concerned eyes. Haru was staring forward with a shocked expression on his face. His eyes weren't focused on anything in particular. I quickly walked back over to him and stood in front of him.

"Haru…" He didn't look at me. I reached up and used my hand to guide his face towards mine, so he was now looking at me. "Don't listen to him, Haru. It's not true." He looked devastated as he looked at me. "You didn't cause anything." I tried to plead with him, but I knew he wasn't listening to me.


	7. Chapter 7

I was constantly worried about Haru and his mental state. What Toono said to him at the pool was completely uncalled for and it really got to him. Every time I thought about it, I became angry. At those moments, I wish I had Ikuya's number, so I could call him and tell him to keep his friends mouth shut. I tried really hard to help Haru. I knew he needed to swim because it was the only way he could think, but then I would make him something to eat, so he would have something when he came home. But he was even more quiet than usual now.

"Kei?" I rolled over in bed and looked at Haru. He was staring up at the ceiling with one arm behind his head.

"Yes?"

"Have I hurt you?" I sat up straight after hearing that question.

"Why would you ask me that?" I was surprised by the question that came out of Haru's mouth.

"He said that everyone who swims with me suffers, but you've never swam with me. I was thinking that maybe it's just the fact that I'm around." Haru said. My expression softened. I lied back down in bed and curled up to Haru. I wrapped my arm around him and placed my head on his chest. Haru brought his arm to wrap around me.

"You don't hurt me, Haru. Don't even think about what he said. You're one of the most caring people I know." Haru never said anything after that. I kissed his chest to remind him that I was there. "Why don't we do something? Just the two of us? We haven't done that in a while." I offered.

"Like what?" He asked.

"I don't know. We could go watch a movie or get dinner?" I offered.

"Why don't we do both?" Haru asked.

"Sure. I'll buy us some tickets. Should we go tomorrow?"

"Sure." With that, Haru was able to rest easy that night. We fell asleep holding each other for the first time in a while.

* * *

"Kei? Aren't you going home?" I looked up and saw some of my friends from choir standing in front of me. I was sitting on a bench outside of our university as I waited for Haru.

"Haru is meeting me and we're going to a move and dinner." I explained.

"That's so cute! You two really are the cutest couple!" One of the girls gushed.

"Thank you."

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow then." They began to walk away until one stopped and yelled over her shoulder to me,

"Will he becoming to the performance next week?" She asked.

"Yes!" I answered.

"Perfect! See you later!" I waved goodbye to my friends and continued to wait on the bench. I pulled out my phone and saw that there were no messages from Haru. Thoughts filled with worry began to circle around in my head, but I shook them off and decided that Haru was probably almost here.

10 minutes

 _Haru? Are you on your way? I'm ready and waiting!_

15 minutes

 _Did something happen? Is the train late?_

20 minutes

 _You're never usually this late. I'm getting kind of worried._

My leg began to bounce as my worries continued to pile up. Haru wasn't answering his phone at all and he was extremely late. I began to think about where else he could be. He was probably at the pool, but then I'd have to go all the way home and check to see if he was there. I tried to think about where else he could be and the only place I could think of Asahi's sisters' coffee shop, Marron. I decided to get up and make my way over there. I quickly pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Makoto,

 _Is Haru with you?_

It took a few minutes, but Makoto answered his phone and told me that Haru was with him. I quickly sent him a text asking if they were at Marron and he replied with yes. I told Makoto to not tell Haru that I was coming. I was slightly annoyed at Haru in that moment, I had bought the tickets for our movie and sat outside for 20 minutes waiting for him to show up, but he probably was never going to show up. My annoyance really derived from Haru not telling me that he was busy. A simple text was all he needed to do.

I walked into the coffee shop and saw Haru, Makoto, Asahi and an old senpai sitting at a table by the window. Makoto looked up and saw me, so everyone else turned to face me. The old senpai that was sitting with the boys was Nao-senpai.

"Kei?" Asahi looked surprised to see me. I walked right over to the table and slammed my hand on it, with the two movie tickets underneath it.

"Have you forgotten something, Haru?" I looked him dead in the eyes and watched as the gears in his head began to slowly work. His eyes widened as he realized what he had done.

"Kei, I'm sorry-" I raised my hand to stop Haru from continuing his apology. All the boys at the table were staring between Haru and I while holding their breath.

"I can see that Nao-senpai is here and that's probably why you forgot about me, so it's fine." I sighed as I stood up straight. Everyone else at the table all let the air out of their lungs once they realized that I wasn't going to lose my temper. "Just tell me next time, okay? I was worried something happened."

"Okay." Haru nodded his head.

"Now you owe me dinner and a movie." I quickly grabbed the chair behind me and brought it to the head of the table, so I could join the conversation. "Hell, Nao-senpai. It's been a while."

"I'm glad to see that you haven't changed, Kei." Nao-senpai laughed.

"Someone has to keep these boys in check, right?" I asked him.

"They'd get in a lot of trouble without you." Nao-senpai agreed.

"I think it'd be Kei getting into trouble! When she gets angry, it's intense. And no one can say anything bag about Haru. She goes for the kill then." Asahi over exaggerated.

"Makoto did tell me that you and Haru are dating. That's good news." Nao-senpai smiled at Haru and I. Haru looked at his with the same blank stare that he usually had while I smiled back.

"We think so too." I agreed. "So what were you guys talking about before I got here?" I asked the table.

"We were talking about what to do about Ikuya." Makoto answered. I looked over at Haru for a quick second and saw his eyes drop slightly at the topic.

"You can't just go talk to him?" Nao-senpai asked us.

"Toono-kun…" Makoto awkwardly said his name. "Ikuya's teammate…"

"Is keeping him locked up in a cage somewhere and won't let us see him." I muttered to myself as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"He doesn't seem to want Ikuya to see Haru." Makoto said.

"I see." Nao-senpai said. "Okay then. I'll try and talk to Natsuya. But after hearing what you've told me, I feel like there's still more you guys can do." I watched Haru's face lift as he heard Nao-senpai's words. "Speaking as your former Iwatobi Middle School teammate, you know?"

"Right." All the boys said in unison.

"So let's make a plan then." I suggested to the table. "How can we get Haru and Ikuya to speak without Toono interrupting?"

"We can't go to the school." Makoto said.

"Because Toono probably has cameras all over the campus watching everything." Asahi added. I laughed at that comment.

"When's your next competition with him?" Nao-senpai asked.

"In a couple weeks, but they don't swim the races." Makoto answered.

"But what if they did?" I started. Everyone at the table looked at me, so I would continue speaking. "If Haru competes in the IM then…him and Ikuya would have to meet. Toono wouldn't be there either." I explained. I then made direct eye contact with Haru only. "But that would mean you have to swim the other strokes. You can't just swim free."

"I…" Haru didn't know what to say. I quickly raised my hands in a surrender position and said,

"It's only a suggestion. We can obviously think up some other ideas."

"I think that's a good start, Kei." Nao-senpai smiled at me. "It's definitely an idea to think about. Besides, I think Ikuya would feel really touched if Haru swam all the strokes just to speak to him."

"I have to think about it." Haru said.

"Of course." Nao-senpai nodded his head. We all sat in our chairs and tried to think up of some more ideas for Haru. However, we all became stuck and could no longer think up of anymore plans.

"Before I forget!" I began. Everyone looked at me again. "My recital is coming up soon. Its next week, so I'd like it for you all to come." I invited my friends.

"You did say you're still singing! I'll totally be there!" Asahi beamed.

"You already know that I'll show up." Makoto added.

"You're invited too, Nao-senpai." I looked at the familiar grey haired man.

"Thank you, Kei. I'll have to see if I'm available that evening, but I'd like to come." He smiled.

"Great! I'm so excited that you guys are all coming!" I beamed.

* * *

 **Damn Haru...forgetting stuff as per. I wonder what else he'll forget?**


End file.
